It is provided a phyllosilicate having a layered structure in the form of platelets and comprising an intercalating agent between the platelets, wherein the intercalating agent is a polyester of a molecular weight of 274 to 30,000 g/mol, and wherein the phyllosilicate is other than a phyllosilicate modified through ionic interchange. It is also provides a polymer nanocomposite comprising a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer an the phyllosilicate mentioned above, as well as preparation processes for the preparation of the intercalated phyllosilicate and the PET nanocomposite. The PET nanocomposite is particularly useful for packaging, particularly for food and drink packaging.

The present invention relates to a curable silicone composition comprising: (A) a diorganopolysiloxane having at least two alkenyl groups in a molecule, (B) at least two types of resinous organopolysiloxanes having different mass average molecular weights, (C) an organopolysiloxane having at least two silicon-bonded hydrogen atoms in a molecule, and (D) a hydrosilylation reaction catalyst. The curable silicone composition enables the production of an optical semiconductor device in which the marked viscosity elevation of the resulting composition can be inhibited, in which the fluidity and packing properties are outstanding and that has outstanding gas barrier properties when used as a sealant, and in which the device has outstanding initial optical output efficiency even when organopolysiloxane resin is blended in order to form cured product with moderate hardness and strength.

Provided are: an EVOH resin composition which can exhibit excellent gas-barrier performance after being subjected to a hot water treatment and rarely generates blisters even when being placed under a high-temperature and high-humidity condition; and a multilayered structure including a layer of the resin composition as a gas-barrier layer. A hydrate-formable alkaline earth metal salt having a specific water absorption property, particularly completely or partially dehydrated alkaline earth metal salt of acid, or a mixture thereof. The acid is selected from the group consisting of lactic acid, silicic acid, phosphoric acid, and citric acid. The partially dehydrated alkaline earth metal salt of the salt has a water content of 50 wt % or less.

The invention relates to a method for preparing a hydrophobically modified clay, wherein the clay modifying agent corresponds to a quaternary ammonium based compound. The present invention further relates to a hydrophobically modified clay obtainable by such a method and to a suspension comprising such a clay, as well to the use of such a hydrophobically modified clay and of a suspension comprising such a hydrophobically modified clay. Furthermore, the present invention is also directed to a polymeric composition comprising a hydrophobically modified clay and/or a suspension comprising a hydrophobically modified clay.

A talc particulate having a d.sub.50 ranging from about 7 m to about 13 m and a BET surface area equal to or less than about 23 m.sup.2/g, barrier compositions and polymeric compositions comprising said talc particulate, use of said talc particulate to decrease permeability of a composition, use of said talc particulate in an inner lining of a tire, methods of making said barrier compositions, polymeric compositions and tire inner linings.

Described is an aqueous coating composition comprising an aqueous dispersion of a radically polymerized addition polymer and phyllosilicate. The aqueous polymer dispersion has a particularly low electrical conductivity. The composition can be used for providing oxygen barrier properties to polymer films.

An adhesive having water vapor barrier properties, comprising an adhesive base composed of at least one reactive resin, at least one elastomer and optionally at least one tackifying resin, and optionally a solvent, is particularly suitable as a barrier adhesive when it comprises at least one multifunctional oligomeric alkoxysiloxane, said oligomeric alkoxysiloxane containing more than one polymerizable group and more than one alkoxy group.

A gas barrier film comprises a first base material film made of a plastic material and a coating layer formed on one of surfaces of the first base material film, the coating layer contains a water-soluble polymer and a water-swelling mica, the solid content ratios of the water-swelling mica in a total solid content of the coating layer are within approximate ranges indicated from 20 mass % to 50 mass %, the mean area diameter of the water-swelling mica is within approximate ranges indicated from 0.5 m to 5 m, and the thickness of the coating layer is within approximate ranges indicated from 0.1 m to 1 m.

A rubber composition for a hollow ball includes a base rubber, an inorganic filler composed of a large number of flat particles, and a carbon-based filler. As to the carbon-based filler, a degree of flatness DLc obtained by dividing an average particle diameter D.sub.50.sup.c (m) by an average thickness Tc (m) is not less than 50. A weight ratio Mc/Mi is not less than 0.01 and not greater than 1.00. The rubber composition is obtained by a production method including: a first step of mixing the base rubber and the carbon-based filler to obtain a master batch; and a second step of adding the large number of flat particles that form the inorganic filler, to the master batch to orient the large number of flat particles. The hollow ball 2 includes a core 4 formed from the rubber composition.

An oxygen-absorbing resin composition containing a base resin having a thermoplastic resin; and an oxygen-absorbing component having at least the one selected from the group consisting of an ester, an amide, an imide or a dicarboxylic acid derived from an acid anhydride represented by the following formula (1), ##STR00001## wherein, a ring X is an aliphatic ring having an unsaturated bond, n is a number of the substituents Y bonded to the ring X and is an integer of 0 or 1, and Y is an alkyl group,
and a polymer having a constituent unit stemming from the acid anhydride. An oxygen-absorbing polyester resin composition exhibits excellent oxygen-absorbing property even in the absence of transition metal catalyst without accompanied by the deterioration of the polyester resin used as a the base resin, the oxygen-absorbing property being strong enough for maintaining gas-barrier properties.